Columbia Pictures' big-screen version of the crime drama "21 Jump Street" -- the 1980s Fox TV series that launched the career of one Johnny Depp -- will shoot in New Orleans starting in April, producer Neal Moritz has confirmed.

The cast of the 1980s crime drama '21 Jump Street,' which included Johnny Depp, right. A big-screen version of the show will be shot in New Orleans, producer Neal Moritz said.

"I just got the new draft I'm going to read that one this afternoon as well," Moritz told The Collider. "We've got Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, and we're really excited about it. I had dinner with the two of those guys like the week before we all took off for a break, and they're really good together and they're very excited to do the movie together and it's going to be a lot of fun."

"21 Jump Street" will be helmed by the directing team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the guys behind the 2009 animated feature "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," making the leap to live-action here.

It is rumored that movie includes a cameo for Depp.

"21 Jump Street" is about a team of youthful looking police detectives who go undercover to investigate crimes in high schools, colleges and other places where, say, Columbo might stand out.

The original series -- which boasted an '80s hipness that appealed to its young audience -- ran for five years on the Fox television network, from 1987 to 1991. In addition to Depp, it starred Holly Robinson, Peter DeLuise and Richard Grieco.

The series was set in a fictional city called "Metropolis." It's unclear if it will be reset in New Orleans -- or another city -- for the movie version.